Entering the French Concession

As dawn broke, Lu Chen wiped his face and hurried away from the French Concession before nightfall. He had already made an agreement with Wang Yan that he would bring his sister into the French Concession no matter what.

It's safest inside the French Concession now; it's too dangerous outside.

Upon arriving at the military police headquarters, they pushed open the door and saw several guards fast asleep in their chairs, while Cheng Jingchuan in his cell was also asleep.

"Wake up, get up!"

Lu Chen picked up the iron bar used by the guards from the table and tapped it on the iron bars of the cell.

Boom! !

The sound was deafening, and the echo lingered.

The cell was small, and Cheng Jingchuan could only sleep on the floor or lean against the wall, but he could never go too far from the iron bars.

"What are you doing?!"

The ground was freezing cold, and the lights were on all night, making for a terrible sleeping environment. Even so, Cheng Jingchuan was still violently woken up by Lu Chen. His expression was not good, and he yelled at Lu Chen.

"Oh ho, you're still so arrogant even though you're a prisoner? We'll hand you over to the Imperial Army right away. You should know what the Japanese are like."

Lu Chen feigned anger, but his words were undoubtedly an implication of his loyalty to the Japanese army.

Hearing Lu Chen say that, Cheng Jingchuan curled his lips and didn't bother to argue with him.

He thought to himself, "He's just a lackey of the Japanese. I'm an intelligence officer, much more valuable than him. Once I get to the Japanese side, my status will definitely be higher than his. Just you wait!"

Thinking this, Cheng Jingchuan stopped arguing with Lu Chen and sat up from the ground.

Seeing that he was no longer sleeping, Lu Chen stopped paying attention to him, went out, ate some breakfast on the street, strolled around for a couple of hours, and then headed home.

"Let's get my sister into the French Concession first."

Because he kept his younger sister and niece in the Hua territory where war was about to break out, Lu Chen couldn't concentrate on anything he was doing.

Perhaps because he only had these two relatives in this life, he cherished family ties even more.

It was already bright when she got home. After Lu Chen stayed out all night several times, Lu Xiulian understood that Lu Chen was busy with work.

Even though she knew, she was still so worried that she couldn't sleep all night and insisted on waiting for Lu Chen to come back before she could sleep.

"Sis, war is about to break out in the Chinese-controlled area. Quickly pack your things and come with me to the French Concession."

As soon as Lu Chen entered, he saw Lu Xiulian holding Xiao Yao, half asleep on the stairs.

Without saying much, Lu Chen told Lu Xiulian to pack her things and leave.

"War...war?"

Upon hearing Lu Chen's words, Lu Xiulian instantly sobered up, her hands and feet becoming somewhat flustered.

The first war caused her to lose her family and home. Now that things were finally starting to look a little better, another war is about to break out.

Lu Xiulian hurriedly carried Xiao Yao back to the house to pack her things. While they were packing, Lu Chen went out and arrived at Yang Huaiyuan's door.

dong dong dong...

Lu Chen knocked on the door, and Yang Huaiyuan opened it. He looked at Lu Chen with a puzzled expression, not understanding why he had come over now.

"Teacher Yang, war is about to break out in the Chinese-controlled area. We should hurry to the French Concession."

Lu Chen was a little out of breath. Perhaps because the war was about to break out, he hadn't seen a single rickshaw on the way back.

This led Lu Chen to run straight back. He decided to inform Yang Huaiyuan, and whether he left or not was up to him.

Yang Huaiyuan had taught him Japanese, although it was only for a month, but Lu Chen always felt that Yang Huaiyuan was not a bad person, just greedy for money.

Yang Huaiyuan said he understood, then hurriedly closed the door, packed his things, and prepared to run away.

"Breaking news! Breaking news! The Japanese army has launched an attack outside the city. Will they be able to enter Shanghai? One yuan a copy!"

There are hardly any people on the streets now, except for newspaper vendors who sell newspapers as the news of the Japanese invasion spreads.

One yuan. At that time, the exchange rate between the legal tender and the RMB was 1:20. Lu Chen gave Xiao Tong one legal tender directly and did not ask for change.

After expressing his gratitude, the child started shouting at the top of his lungs in the street again.

Holding the newspaper, Lu Chen's face was solemn. The newspaper said that the Japanese army was currently outside Shanghai, and the National Army was fighting desperately to prevent them from entering Shanghai.

Tear...

After reading it, Lu Chen casually tossed the newspaper into the trash can, lifted his foot, and went home. His sister should have already finished cleaning up.

When he got home, he saw his younger sister carrying a lot of things in big bags. Lu Chen glanced at the room and saw that his sister had even brought the bed sheets.

"You don't need to bring these, just bring clothes. You can buy the rest when you get to the French Concession."

It took Lu Chen a lot of persuasion to convince Lu Xiulian to give up those miscellaneous things.

Having endured a period of hardship, Lu Xiulian now doesn't want to easily discard anything.

But carrying these things was too cumbersome, so Lu Chen told her to throw them away, and she obediently did so.

Along the way, there wasn't even a glimpse of street vendors. It wasn't until the entrance to the French Concession that Lu Chen realized most people were gathered there, all wanting to enter the French Concession.

"Shit, how come there are so many people, and so many refugees? Damn it."

"Don't push, you can't go in."

boom! ! !

With a bang, facing the throng of people, the French soldiers had no choice but to fire a warning shot; if this continued, the fence would surely collapse under the weight of the crowd.

Upon hearing the gunshots, the crowded people finally quieted down, but there was another group of people who, even in the face of gunfire, still bravely pushed forward.

Lu Chen looked over and saw that it was a group of refugees. They were now homeless and had no choice but to stay there, as the Japanese army might come in and kill them at any time.

boom! ! !

Another shot rang out, and a refugee fell to the ground, a large, conspicuous bloody hole the size of a thumb in the center of his head.

At this point, the refugees finally calmed down; no one pushed forward or made any more noise.

Seeing this, Lu Chen pulled Lu Xiulian, who was holding Xiao Yao, and the three of them squeezed to the front.

"I want to enter the French Concession."

Lu Chen took out a piece of paper, which Wang Yan had given him when he sneaked into the French Concession to see Wang Yan.

At this tense moment, the French dare not allow too many people to enter, fearing it would cause riots within the French Concession, as entry would be impossible without written documentation.

"The higher-ups have given a strict order: no one is allowed to enter the French Concession."

The leading French soldier took the document, glanced at it, and coldly said that they could not enter. He did not return the document to Lu Chen.

"Sir, please have mercy, I still have a family to support."

Lu Chen gritted his teeth and took out a stack of legal tender from his coat pocket. After only a cursory glance, he estimated that there were nearly 10,000 legal tender.

When the French soldiers saw that Lu Chen had taken out so much French currency, they glanced around and, seeing that no other French soldiers were paying attention, discreetly stuffed it into their pockets.

"Go in."

The French soldier spoke calmly, subtly stepping aside.

Lu Chen quickly pulled Lu Xiulian up and stepped across the boundary between heaven and hell.

Out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly saw a familiar figure. It was Yang Huaiyuan, who was holding the hand of a little boy, probably his son, with his wife beside him.

"I'm taking him with me!"

Lu Chen pulled Yang Huaiyuan's family into the French Concession. Just as the French soldiers were about to stop him, Lu Chen stuffed another stack of French currency into their hands.